Devo @ Northern Lights, 7/31/10

by Michael Eck
Special to The Times Union
CLIFTON PARK – Are we old men? We are DEVO!
Those nutty boys in Devo are indeed geezers now and they looked it and sounded it at Northern Lights on Saturday night. Behind his gray mask, Mark Mothersbaugh sported gray hair and his distinctive, robotic moves looked a little creaky, too.
But that doesn’t mean Devo didn’t deliver.
The band clearly pleased a smaller than expected crowd with hits from the past as well as a few selections from the group’s new album, “Something for Everybody.”
Devo’s concept has been brilliant since day one.
They mock on our marketing culture while boldly embracing it; they create high art by manipulating low culture; and they rock out while razzing rock tropes and structures.
They did all of that at Northern Lights, of course, with half the audience parsing it on the fly and the other half just bopping along by design.
It was more theater than rock and roll.
Mothersbaugh — who has gone on to great success as a film and television composer — sang most of the evening’s leads, often leading choreography while doing so.
He and his crew moved about in front a of a video screen that spewed images linked to the sound, making for a high tech riff on an old hippie motif.
The first half of the show was heavy on keyboards and dance grooves, and following “Planet Earth” the band exited the stage to return in original yellow Devo duds to address oldies with guitars.
Both portions of the show were entertaining.
Tunes like “Fresh” and “Don’t Shoot (I’m a Man)” satisfied the band’s urge to create, while “Jocko Homo,” “Girl U Want,” “Freedom of Choice” and “Gates of Steel” satisfied fans. Surprisingly, “Whip It,” the band’s best known song came early in the show.
The main quartet (augmented by drummer Jeff Friedl) actually consists of two pairs of brothers, and Mothersbaugh’s lead guitarist brother Bob (referred to in Devo lore as Bob 1) sang the group’s arrangement of “Secret Agent Man.”
Like the latter, Devo’s famous cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” is known for its angularity and its sharp corners. Saturday, the groove was slippier, funkier and much less anxious, signifying that over the years Devo has been back-influenced by the very post-new-wave bands they influenced.
Similarly, edgy classics like “Uncontrollable Urge” and “Mongoloid” (sung by Bob 1 and bassist Jerry Casale) were more fun than fierce, with Bob Casale (Bob 2) dropping in additional fractious guitar lines.
In a conscious nod to marketing the band continually tossed objects to the audience, including Blue Energy Dome hats, shredded costumes and super balls.
The flying free stuff, of course, helped encourage a long line at the band’s merchandise table after the show.
And old school fans were delighted by the encore arrival of Devo mascot Booji Boy during the closing “Beautiful World.”

DEVO
When: 9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Northern Lights, 1208 Rt. 146, Clifton Park
Length: 80 minutes
Highlights: The freakout middle section of “Smart Patrol/Mr. DNA” and the perpetually politically-incorrect “Mongoloid.”
The crowd: About half a house of Devo geeks, more than a few sporting spiffy Blue Energy Domes.
Upcoming: Public Enemy brings classic rap to the club on Aug. 10.